The Meadowatt, LLC solar farm slated for 188-190 Marion Road (Route 105) is closing in on approval after the Rochester Planning Board on June 28 suggested the town planner devise a draft decision to review at the next meeting.
With waiver requests all straightened out and the plan revised to replace a proposed vinyl faux stonewall with a cedar stockade fence, the board felt confident that a few revisions to the plan made by the next meeting, along with the draft decision, would lead to approval by the end of July.
The cedar fence, said engineer Bob Bersin, would be 7 feet high and raised 6 inches off the ground, giving it a height of 7 feet 6 inches. The vinyl wall previously proposed was 6.9 feet. On the rear side of the project, the plan for a black chain-link fence remains.
The board requires that the fence be installed before any work is done on the construction of the solar arrays; however, it has allowed the developer time to cut down trees and construct a road before the fence is built for logistical reasons.
“That will deter any inconvenience to the neighborhood,” said Planning Board member Gary Florindo. He later suggested tweaking the proposed hours of operation during construction from 7:00 am – 6:00 pm down to 7:00 am – 5:00 pm for heavy machinery and noisy equipment, which will also be excluded from the Saturday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm timeframe for work.
With decommissioning amounts settled, screening and landscaping and maintenance plans all submitted, and the existing house at the site planned for demolition, Chairman Arnold Johnson offered the developer reassurance that the board would move forward in the process with the draft decision, but a vote would first require updating of the plans to reflect the fencing changes.
One abutter made one last-ditch effort to sway the board to reject the solar farm plan to no avail, as Johnson explained to Morgan Cecil who suggested that since the Planning Board is tasked with developing and following the town’s Master Plan to keep Rochester rural, it should follow through with that.
“That doesn’t give us the right to deny a project,” said Johnson. If the developer chose litigation, a judge could remand the matter back to the board, Johnson said, if the judge found it unreasonable. “It’s kind of a fine line. Property owners’ rights are property owners’ rights.”
Johnson reassured Cecil that the board does its due diligence in solar farm matters, spending hours at onsite visits and ensuring that screening is effective and decommissioning escrows are appropriate.
Johnson later told the developer that, after approval, the board would revisit the site in the fall after the foliage has fallen to endure proper screening from an abutting property at the rear of the site.
The matter was continued until July 12.
Also continued was the Renewable Generation application for a solar farm proposed on New Bedford Road. That date was scheduled for September 13.
A preliminary subdivision application for Melink Corporation for a proposed creation of a two-lot subdivision at 0 Snipatuit Road was also continued without a specified date.
The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for July 12 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
By Jean Perry